


Blue Waters, Bring Me Home

by Erandri



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Eventual Romance, M/M, Merperson Danny "Danno" Williams, Some violent scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 02:22:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4330173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve had one mission when he returned to Hawaii: find Victor Hesse and put a bullet in him. He never expected that mission to bring him face to face with the man who had saved his life years previous.</p><p>Or for that man to turn out to be a merman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Since the prologue took place in 2007, I estimated that Steve would be an Ensign around that time. If my estimation is wrong please let me know and I will be glad to fix it.
> 
> Terms:  
> RIB- Rigid Inflatable Boat  
> CPO- Chief Petty Officer  
> The Mer- The species name for mermaids/mermen

June 17, 2007

Steve followed his team down the ladder and onto the small RIB, swaying with the boat as the waves knocked it against the side of the frigate. The air was warm despite it being the middle of the night and he could already feel a light sheen of sweat forming underneath his wetsuit. The moon was barely half full, providing enough cover for the team to safely make a stealth boarding but enough light to still be able to maneuver without night vision. Steve looked around the small boat and checked over the men as they prepared their weapons. Everyone was wearing light gear for maximum maneuverability and Steve was grateful that they wouldn't have to deal with the full weight of their usual gear as they tried to board the ship.

Somalian pirates had captured a US freighter just outside the Gulf of Aden carrying a shipment to Pakistan for the troops deployed there, it was their mission to get it back. It was a simple objective, six SEALS would board the ship, take out the pirates, rescue any remaining crew and assure that the shipment was intact. It was suspected that there would be little resistance from the pirates, but Steve couldn't help but worry. A nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong a constant feeling in his gut since the briefing. He checked his gun one last time and patted the extra clips, making sure they were stored securely on his belt.

“Ensign,” Steve heard Commander Pallis call from the bow of the boat, “are we ready?”

Steve straightened up and gave the team a once over, receiving affirmatives from all of them, before giving the Commander his full attention before replying with a curt, “Yes, Sir.”

“Let's cast off then.”

Steve nodded and untied the rope securing their RIB to the ship. He dropped it to the deck as the Commander steered the RIB away from the ship and took a seat next to CPO Harris who gave him a smile.

“Ready to go be heroes?” Harris asked, leaning closer to Steve so that he could still hear as the boat quickly picked up speed. Going this fast, it would take them less than a half hour to cross the nearly ten miles to the freighter. Steve gave a noncommittal grunt in reply and was happy when Harris turned away, assuming that Steve was just as excited as he was about the mission but that his affirmation had simply gotten carried off in the wind. Steve on the other hand only felt his apprehension growing with each passing minute, the worrying knot in his stomach now a lead weight. He tried to push the fear aside, going over the layout of the ship once again in his mind, but the thought that something was going to go wrong kept nagging at him.

\---

Danny had been unable to sleep, a fact which he attributed to being in unusually warm waters. This time of year back home the bay would have been just above sixty, here it was over eighty and he couldn't relax in the heat. Not only that but it was too quiet. Back home he had the sound of the city to lull him to sleep, here in the Indian Ocean there was nothing besides the gentle lapping of the waves overhead. The differences between the New Jersey shore and his current home ruminated in his mind as he failed to fall asleep, bringing on a wave of homesickness that Danny had been staving off for years. Trying to exhaust himself into sleep- and provide a distraction for his thoughts of home- he had decided to go for a swim. The ocean was calm and nearly empty, making it easy to move through, and before he knew it he had swum into the shipping lanes.

It was the middle of the night so he wasn't too worried about sailors seeing him- and if any did they would assume he was a dolphin- but it wasn't a good idea for him to be in such a well traveled area. Turning to head back to the coast of the small island he was staying near, Danny allowed the waves to wash over him before he began swimming again, thoughts of his family flooding his mind. It had been nearly five years since he was home last, a relatively short period in his life, but it was starting to feel like so much longer. He wondered what his family must think had happened to him. If they wondered if he was still alive or if he had been caught in some fisherman’s net and sold to the highest bidder. It wasn’t the worst fate he could think of for a captured Mer.

He had thought of going back home countless times in the first couple of months, but his stubbornness had always won out. It was his stubbornness that had made him leave in the first place- or get disowned as some would tell the story- but as the months then years had passed, so did his anger. Memories of the last fight with his father resurfaced and he had to swallow down the emptiness and guilt that arose. It had been a long time since Billy died, but the thought that his best friend was gone was still a hard blow. The trial was an even harder blow, driving a wedge between him, his family, and his tribe. He had been found innocent of any wrongdoing- in the end the whole event had been ruled as a freak accident- but the son of the royal family had died on his watch and nobody in the tribe had taken kindly to him after that. After nearly two years of him and his family being ostracized, Danny finally let all of his anger and sadness out in one explosive evening.

The fight had been his misguided way to save his family, if they no longer associated with Danny then maybe the tribe would welcome them back. If Danny left forever maybe everyone would move on. He hadn’t counted on how hard it would be to leave. He missed his mother like crazy, and having to say goodbye to Matty had been one of the hardest things he had ever done, but it was the look of pain in his father's eyes that woke Danny up in the middle of the night. Maybe five years of exile were enough. Maybe seven years of hating himself was a good enough penance for the tribe. Maybe it was time to finally go home.

Figuring that his crisis should be attended to when fully awake, Danny started back towards his coast. Just as he began swimming an explosion rang out in the distance. He stopped and whirled around to see flames engulfing a ship almost a mile away from where he was. His curiosity kicked in and Danny started swimming as fast as he could towards the flames, wondering if there would be any survivors.

Danny made it to the ship in a few minutes and saw an American flag emblazoned across the stern just below the ship's name: The Amazing Grace. Danny stared up at the hull of the ship, the front half of which was already engulfed in flames. The heat was intense, burning his exposed skin, and he had to duck under water as another set of explosions went off from the rear deck just above his head. Peering through the waves he gasped as he saw a body fly backward off of the side of the ship and hurtle limply down into the ocean. Danny surfaced again, ignoring the heat of the fire against his face and swam to where the person had landed, hoping that he would be able to help the human.

It was hard to see too far into the deep waters and for a second Danny panicked that he wouldn't be able to find the man. He kept swimming deeper, hoping to see anything of the human who had fallen but was quickly giving up hope. He was just about to give up, resurface to try and see if there was anyone else who needed help when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Finally, he saw the man, dressed all in black except for his head and hands- it was no wonder he had been so hard to see. Danny swam to the human and wrapped an arm around his chest, pulling him to the surface of the water.

The man coughed up water but didn’t wake so he moved his hand over where the man's heart was. He was met with the slow, steady rhythm pulsing underneath his hand. Sighing in relief he looked at the man's face, the light of the ship's fire illuminating the soft features. He gasped at the man's beauty- because he was quite beautiful for a human- before his attention was drawn to the large open wound in the man's hairline. The skin was cut open and bleeding profusely, the seeping blood quickly being washed away as each wave came over them. Danny readjusted the human on his shoulder and ran his finger over the wound, allowing his touch to close the gash and repairing the skin, but unable to do anything for the damage underneath. Danny ran his fingers over the man's wet skin again, making sure that the entire wound had closed and just as he took his hand away the man sighed and opened his eyes.

\---

They had breached the ship easily. Surveillance had shown that there were only three guards for the whole ship- the rest of the pirates most likely inside with the prisoners- which left much of the ship open and available for boarding. The Commander had taken point, climbing one of the side ladders and scanning the deck before the team made entry. Steve had taken the rear and was the last one on the ship. Once the team was assembled on deck the Commander signaled for Steve to lead Harris and Boudry to the stern while he took Alton and Sweeney to the bow. Steve nodded signaling that he understood and took his men to the left, guns at the ready. They had made it to the rear upper deck when one of the pirates on patrol walked around the corner and surprised them.

As soon as they saw each other both parties reacted quickly. The pirate lunged at Steve, knife in hand and an AR- 15 slung across his back. Steve was forced to dodged the knife just before it struck his shoulder rather than fire at him. The man's momentum knocked the two down the stairs Steve had just climbed and back to the lower deck. He yelled at Harris and Boudry to continue the sweep, he could handle one guy and the rest of the pirates outside needed to be subdued before they could raise an alert.

Steve pushed the pirate off of him and scrambled to his feet, reaching for his gun. He got it aimed just as the man tackled him once again and knocked the gun away, sliding across the deck and out of sight. They grappled and Steve felt the man hit him in the head hard with his knife, blood running down the side of his face Steve grabbed the rifle strap across his attackers chest and pulled the gun off. The force knocked the pirate off balance and gave Steve enough time to push him off and aim the gun. Steve pulled the trigger but was met with the click of an empty barrel. He threw the gun to the side and circled the pirate until he was in a place where he would have room to move. He was just about to lunge when an explosion ripped through the hull of the ship.

The force of the explosion blew Steve forward and his opponent took the opportunity to get to his feet and attack. The man was fast, but Steve had the greater strength and used that to his full advantage. Every time the man got close Steve lashed out, connecting solidly with soft tissue. It wasn’t long before Steve had the man pinned against one of the cargo containers, he broke the man's neck with a cold efficiency and stood back, searching the ship for a sign of his team. He started to make his way to the bow where the crew was most likely being held- and thus where his team should be- when the second explosion rang out. This explosions was much closer than the last one had been and the blow that much more powerful. He was already too close to the low rail and the force of the explosions was too much. He tumbled over the side and felt the warm air blowing around him as he made his way down, panicking when he realized that he was going to land in the ocean. He hit the water hard and slipped into unconsciousness as he sank below the waves.

\---

Steve woke when he felt something warm touching the side of his head. For a second he thought that it was the sun, streaming onto his face like when he woke up back home in Hawaii, but when he opened his eyes everything was still dark. As he come out of the haze he felt a more intense heat on his face, nothing like the gentle warmth that had woken him, and looked over to see most of the freighter that he had just been on in flames. He moaned in pain and turned his head away from the flame, coming face to face with another man.

He was supporting Steve’s head on his shoulder, arm wrapped around his chest, and somehow managing to keep the both of their heads well above the water. Steve tried to focus on the man's face, the fire illuminating the rugged features, and he wondered just who he was. He wasn't a SEAL and Steve didn't remember his face from the ship's crew manifest. Maybe he was just forgetting, his blow to the head scattering his thoughts. He looked harder at the stranger and took in the features. His blonde hair was long and swept back so that it was out of his face, but water trailed down from it to drip off of his strong jawline. His eyes were a deep blue, almost as blue as the ocean they were in, and rimmed by laugh lines. Steve stared into his eyes and was met by a look of concern so strong it nearly took his breath away. Suddenly his brain processed everything that had just happened and Steve snapped his head off of the man's shoulder, “My team,” Steve groaned, trying to move towards the burning ship.

“Hey, what are you doing? You're hurt, you can't go saving people,” Steve recognized a slight Jersey accent coming from the man but ignored the information. He tried weakly to swim to the ship again but quickly stopped when he felt a burning down his left side, a result of the explosion. He leaned back against the man and tried to breath through the pain but now that he recognized that it was there it was all he could concentrate on, “I'm gonna keep you safe alright? I got you,” he heard the man say and Steve felt himself relax into his hold.

Steve knew that he should try to get back to the ship, try to see if there were any survivors, but he couldn't force his body to move. His side was radiating pain, but the arm around him was so strong and calming that he sank into it. He looked back at the burning ship once more, cargo containers forming haunting masses in the flame, before leaning his head on the man's shoulder and slipping back into blackness.

\---

Danny panicked when the man stopped moving and immediately placed a hand back over his chest. He sighed when he felt a heartbeat, weak but steady. Knowing that his charge was still alive Danny turned to the next task at hand, finding him somewhere safe. It was too far to swim with the man, but he couldn't leave him here in the middle of the ocean- even if he did he wouldn't be able to get help without exposing himself as a Mer. The discovery of a man with a fishtail was bound to distract from the rescue effort. He scanned the ocean looking for anything but nothing revealed itself to him.

“What's your name?” the human asked suddenly, startling Danny. He hadn't realized that he was awake again.

“Danny.”

“'m Steve.”

“Nice to meet you, Steve.”

Danny held Steve for a long time, trying to keep his head out of the water as best he could. It was getting harder the longer he had to tread water- already exhausted from no sleep and the long swim- but he couldn’t let go and if he held on any other way Steve would be able to see that he was a Mer.

The sun was just starting to rise above the horizon and Danny estimated that it had been about an hour since he saved Steve. Readjusting his grip, Danny scanned the ocean once more- hoping that the rising sun would illuminate anything that could help Steve- before he spotted a small shape on the horizon growing steadily larger. Before he could wonder what it was his thoughts were interrupted.

“We should be rescued soon,” Steve mumbled into his neck, his warm breath tickling Danny’s neck.

“What?” Danny gave Steve his full attention again and pushed them higher out of the water.

“Our frigate’s few miles ‘way, they were watchin’ the ship for our signal. They would ha’ seen the explosion,” Steve’s speech was a little slurred as he relayed the information.

Danny panicked at the news. Steve would be rescued soon, but it would be near impossible to escape the view of a whole ship looking for people in the water. Who knew what they would do to him if he were caught? A wave of fear came over him and his brain raced to figure a way out of the situation. He couldn’t leave Steve just floating in the water, he would die, but if he stayed with him much longer Danny’s own life could be in danger. As Danny tried to figure out what he was going to do, he noticed a small black boat tied to the freighter- nearly invisible in the earlier darkness.

He let out a sigh of relief and pulled Steve as quickly as he could towards the small raft. Finally, they reached the raft and Danny talked the dazed human into helping get himself into the boat. Danny pushed him up as Steve pulled, using a rope running the length of the rubber pontoon, and after some struggling Steve fell into the boat. He let out a pained gasp as he landed on his burnt side and quickly readjusted himself to alleviate the pain. After a few seconds, Danny saw his head rise over the side of the pontoon and he offered his hand out.

“Your turn,” Steve said, staring down at him.

Danny pushed away from the boat, just enough so that Steve wouldn’t be able to grab him, and denied the offer of help, “I’m going to look for other survivors.”

“You can’t,” Steve told him, propping himself up higher, “the rescue ship will be here soon, get in the boat where it’s safe.”

He bristled at the order and shied away from the boat once again, “They may not make it until the ship gets here. I’m going to look, stay here.”

Before Steve could order him to stay again Danny took off in the water, careful to dive down so that Steve wouldn’t be able to see his tail. True to his word Danny swam around the ship once looking for other survivors but found nothing. He returned to the side of the ship where Steve was waiting and surfaced just enough that his eyes were out of the water. He could see Steve in the boat a little ways away from him, scanning the water waiting for Danny to return. The rescue ship had almost arrived and he could hear the muffled cries of a voice coming over a loudspeaker.

Danny waited where he was until the ship was nearly upon him before sinking down under the water's surface. He watched as Steve waved to the ship, catching the attention of a woman on deck. Danny watched as she turned and pointed to Steve, shouting something to a man next to her. He couldn't make out her words underneath the waves but watched with relief as ropes were tossed overboard and Steve quickly tied his boat off. Danny turned away before he watched any more of the rescue, the threat against him already too great with the ship looming so close.

Steve would be fine now. It was time for Danny to go home.


	2. Blue Eyes That Haunt My Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everybody who left comments and kudos! I never expected this kind of response.
> 
> Sorry, this took so long to update but my mind ricochets between story ideas faster than a pinball. Plus, now I am working on a NaNoWriMo story as well and that hasn't left me much time for other writing. That said, I have absolutely no plans to give up on this story. I just suck at updating with any resemblance of a schedule.
> 
> As with all of my stories this chapter is not beta'd.

September 23, 2011

Everything in the house looked exactly the same as the last time Steve had been home and it had felt like stepping back in time when he first walked through the door. All these years later and his father hadn’t made a single change to the house, even the old, lumpy chairs that should have been thrown away when Steve was still in high school were still placed on either side of the coffee table. A pang of nostalgia washed over him when he saw that and for a second he half expected to smell the dinner his mom would have been cooking in the kitchen, hear his dad working on paperwork in the study. The notion quickly passed when he was only greeted by silence and the lingering smell of antiseptic.

The cops had done a good job cleaning the house, but Steve could still see evidence of the murder. The office chair wasn’t put back in its regular place, the wall was too clean where it had been scrubbed free of his father's blood. The cleansed wall was just as telling as if it were still splattered red.

He only took a moment to glance through the house and gather his thoughts before he got to work. It looked like Hesse had only been in the first floor. There were signs of a struggle in the kitchen, scuff marks from where a chair had been shoved, aging fruit piled on the counter but the old glass fruit bowl was nowhere in sight. It appeared as if Hesse had found his father in the kitchen, they had struggled there before Hesse got the upper hand. He had then moved his father to the study where he tied him to the chair and made the call. Steve retraced the steps through the house and stopped when he saw a spot cleared away on the desk, just big enough for a laptop. He continued searching the floor, finding a few things here and there that may or may not be useful, until he was satisfied that he had found everything in the main house. He was just about to head into the garage when his phone alarm sounded, reminding him that it was time to get changed.  
\---

The cemetery quickly filled after the hearse directed the long processional to the McGarrett plot, people filing out of dozens of cars to stand beside the open grave. He recognized some people from his childhood, Duke Lukela was older but still unmistakable dressed in his uniform. Most of the other people were strangers to him, new people on the force and people that his father had helped in the years since Steve had left. There was no family to greet him. Aunt Deb was too sick to make the long flight and god knows what excuse Mary would make to him for her absence.

He didn’t feel sad during the funeral, not like he thought that he should. Instead there was this emptiness, slowly filling with the compulsion to find Hesse and put a bullet in him. So instead of listening to the words of comfort that the priest was saying, he was plotting his next course of action. He would have to find an in with HPD in order to get a copy of his father’s file, maybe Duke would help him with that.

He spent the rest of the funeral in a haze, plotting his mission, and before he knew it people were stepping up to offer him their condolences. He dutifully accepted them, listening to stories that people wanted to tell him about the person that his father had become, a person that Steve had never known. He was itching to leave and get back to work by the time the last mourner approached him, a woman with a bodyguard on either side of her. She was nearly as tall as he was and carried herself with a demeanor that made him feel like he should stand at attention and salute.

“Commander McGarrett, I'm so sorry for your loss,” the woman extended her hand to him as she continued, “I’m Pat Jameson.”

The name instantly sparked in his brain and he couldn’t help the surprised look that he threw her before shaking her hand, “Governor, I didn’t realize that you knew my father.”

“Your father and I were good friends, actually. He spoke of you often,” She paused for a second, to let him speak but when he remained silent she continued on, “He was very proud of you. He would tell anyone who would give him their ear all about your accomplishments with the Navy.”

Steve tried to picture his father bragging about him like he used to do when he was the star quarterback, but nothing came to mind. His father had never told him that he was proud of him, why should he tell others that he was? The inconsistency unsettled him and he was immediately suspicious, the notion that the Governor was trying to get into his good graces suddenly present.

“You’ll have to forgive me Governor, but I don’t think this little visit is all about telling me how proud of me my father was.”

“Well, you certainly don’t beat around the bush do you?” she said, her tone almost pleased.

“Not when I have important things to get to,” it may have been rude, but he could feel bad about his insolence later. Right now he had a terrorist to catch and every minute he continued to speak here was another minute that Hesse had to leave the island.

“Well, then I’ll get to it,” Jameson said, ignoring his impropriety, “I want to set up a task force on the island, specifically to get people like this Hesse off of my island.”

“That’s all well and good Governor, but why tell me?”

“I want you to lead it. Your father's murder has been a wake-up call to myself and every other official on the islands that Hawaii is vulnerable to threats like this and we have no way to stop them. Who’s to know what other threats are right under our nose that we have no idea of? You have the training and the experience to deal with these threats and with my backing, full immunity and means, we could make a real difference here.”

Jameson relaxed back on her heels, waiting for Steve’s response. All he could do was scoff, “That’s good tactic, I’ll give you that. Approaching me at my father's funeral, trying to establish a bond, offering me everything I need to catch Hesse. You’re very good at this.”

“You’re not saying no,” Jameson said, unperturbed that he had called her out on her scheme.

“I’m not saying yes either,” he said and made to leave when she grabbed his arm and offered out a business card.

“Just in case you change your mind.”  
\---

Danny hates Hawaii. He hates the fact that the ocean hasn’t dropped below eighty degrees in weeks and the _lava_ pouring into the ocean. He hates the tourists with their loud rental boats that they don’t know how to drive and the fact that they are _everywhere_. He especially hates the fact that Rachel had shed her tail and dragged their daughter all the way out here after soul-bonding with a human. Yet despite all of Hawaii’s flaws, the multitudes of which Danny could recite alphabetical if he so chose, he found himself in front of the Queen, asking to be allowed to join her tribe.

The Queen was old, centuries old, but her age did nothing to detract from her beauty. Her skin was dark, accentuated by the intricate black tattoos that spread from her collarbone over her shoulders and all the way down both arms. Her hair was as black as her tattoos and reached well past where her red tail began, contained only at the crown of her head where a wreath of green maile leaves lay. Around her neck was a long necklace of bone and teeth, a large shark tooth hanging prominently between her breasts.

All in all, she was nothing short of daunting.

Danny was ushered into her throne room after being made to wait nearly an hour, which raised his hackles on top of adding to his apprehension. He should be used to power plays after working with his own royal family for years, yet they still always managed to grate at his nerves. This time, it was made worse knowing that the Queen held his entire future in her hands. His own royal family had made it quite clear that while they appreciated his service to them, they had already given him a second chance and he would not be receiving a third. If the Queen refused to allow him to complete the trials he would have no tribe left.

A Mer without the protection of a tribe generally didn’t live too long.

The Queen looked him over as he entered the room. The guard leading him in motioned for him to stop before returning to his post just behind the Queen. Danny waited in silence before the Queen addressed him.

“Welcome, Daniel Williams,” the Queen said, her voice almost musical.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” he said, giving a respectful nod of his head.

“I have been told that you wish to join my tribe. Is this correct?”

“It is.”

“I have also been told that you worked for your own royal family,” Danny once again answered in the affirmative and the Queen continued, “Tell me why you left.”

“My ex-mate brought my daughter here, I followed so that I would be able to see her.”

Confusion flashed over her face before she responded, her voice suddenly closed off and suspecting, “You are the only Mer to request the Trials in years. If your mate brought your daughter here why have I not seen them?”

Danny took a breath to temper his pride before explaining, “Because they are both Merrow, Ma’am. My ex has chosen to live as a human.”

“I see,” was all she said before going silent, drumming her fingers on the arm of her throne as she contemplated what she would do with the Mer before her, “Tell me Daniel, why not just take your daughter? If your mate chose a human life you would have the full right to do as such.”

“My daughter needs both of her parents, Your Majesty. If that requires me letting her live as a human so that she still knows her mother than I would choose that option every time.”

The Queen gave a small nod, contemplating his answer, and Danny waited with his heart in his throat for her verdict. As the silence was prolonged he had to clench his fists to keep from fidgeting in the quiet. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the Queen seemed to reach some kind of verdict and leaned over to consort with the guard next to her. As soon as she was done speaking he rushed out of the room and she turned her attention back to Danny.

“Welcome to Hawai’i Daniel.”  
\---

It’s late into the evening when Steve got back home and he can count on one hand the number of times that he’s felt this tired. He’s got a graze from a bullet on his shoulder, at least one cracked rib, a litany of bruises and all he wants to do is collapse onto his bed and not get back up for a couple of days but his adrenaline is still running high and he can’t sit still.

The sun is just starting to set and he figures that there’s probably another hour or so of good sunlight left to use. There’s a pair of boardshorts in the laundry room, they’re still damp from his swim this morning, but he exchanges his dirty cargo pants for them anyway and quickly strips off the rest of his clothing, leaving it in a heap on the floor. Not bothering with the hamper since most of it will have to get thrown away anyway. A few minutes later he has his toes in the wet sand and is staring out at the setting sun.

It took three days of making no headway in his father's case working on his own for Steve to give in and finally accept the Governor's job offer. She had been pleased, of course, and had taken his oath right then and there in her office. After he had been sworn in things moved smoothly. Duke was finally able to share the case file with him and he made Meka Hanamoa, the officer assigned to the case, his partner. With what Steve knew about Hesse and what Meka had gleaned from the crime scene they were able to piece together several pieces of information. All of it leading them absolutely nowhere.

They were running in circles until the governor suggested Steve contact an ex-CIA analyst, Jenna Kaye. It was Jenna who had suggested that someone like Hesse would want to arm himself as soon as he got onto the island so they should compare the ballistics reports to past cases and see if they got lucky. Steve kicked himself for not thinking of that angle sooner. After Jenna made a list of names, with some input from Meka, Steve and Meka were knocking on doors- or knocking down if the situation called for it. On the second day of tracking down known gun runners, they got lucky. Doran ran and, even though the man was now dead, they found the kidnapped girl in his closet after a search of his house. The girl they found in his closet wasn’t able to give them much information, but she said enough to pass along to one of Meka’s CI’s, Kamekona, who put some feelers out for slave traffickers. The two had barely made it back to their temporary headquarters before Kamekona called back with a name. Sang Min.

Sang Min was up-and-coming in the ‘import/export’ business, but he was surprisingly competent at his job and took a special interest in the movement of humans- whether by their choice or not. Kamekona made the introductions, saying that Steve was looking for a discreet way off of the island. Sang Min was suspicious at first, making contact with a source to identify Steve, but he wasn’t in the HPD database yet and had been off of the island for years. The contact gave Sang Min the go ahead and then he was all too willing to talk about his trade. As soon as they got enough of a confession, Meka moved in with HPD in tow, though not fast enough to save Steve from having to put down three of the henchmen by himself. With the loss of his team and a couple threats later, Sang Min was singing like a canary. There were three scheduled ships leaving the island over the course of the following week and Hesse could be on any one of them.

Steve found himself tracing his fingers over the old scars on his side as he relived the last couple of hours. He had plenty of new scars from this afternoon and plenty more from before that, but it was always the scars from the fire that he found himself worrying when thinking about old battles. Maybe because it was the first time he had honestly been hurt on a mission, maybe it was because that mission still had so many unanswered questions, but the memories always popped back up after a fight. Blue eyes flashed across his mind and he tried to shove them out of his thoughts but the more he tried, the more vivid the memories came.

The blond man was still a mystery to him. Danny. He wasn’t on the ship’s manifest and he definitely wasn’t on the rescue team. Yet there he had been nonetheless, saving his life and even trying to save others. Then just as soon as he appeared he was gone again. Everyone had tried to convince him that the man was a figment of his imagination. No one else had seen him and there was no logical way to explain his presence so therefore he must have been a byproduct of the concussion.

He tried to believe them. After all there was no other reasonable explanation for how the mystery man could have been in the middle of the ocean. Yet, some nights he swore he could remember the timber of Danny’s voice and the warmth that Steve had felt radiating from his body.

Rather than think longer on the subject Steve took a few more steps into the water and dove in.  
\---

Moving into another tribe’s land has rules- Merfolk were horribly territorial creatures- rules that Danny respects and, until recently, was in charge of upholding. It wasn’t often that a Mer would leave their tribe, so when someone did request to live in another tribe land they were often regarded with suspicion at the best of times. In order to avoid any unnecessary fights- and deaths- The Trials had been created and agreed upon centuries ago by many of the Queens.

The Trials were, in theory, very simple. Formally request permission from the Queen to join her tribe. Then came the blood oath, a pomp and circumstance affair where the Mer would publicly swear to serve their new Queen, give their life if necessary. The whole ceremony was a lot of repeat after me's and ended with a bloody handprint on a sheet of paper. Then came the hardest part of The Trials, the test of character. Tailored to a Mers specific skills, the test could be anything. In Danny's case, it was the capture- preferably alive but that wasn't a requirement- of a rogue Mer.

The Trial had seemed so simple when he first sought out the Queen, he had even seen a couple performed when new Mer's moved into his old tribe with little difficulty. The Queen had readily given him her welcome, excited to have another experienced peacekeeper in her territory. The rest of the tribe was wary of him but given his past he couldn't blame them. With a past like his, he would have been wary too.

Yet, despite some protests Danny was allowed to do the blood oath and find himself a lair before the final test. He counted himself lucky when he found a sleepy cove on the opposite side of the island from most of the local Mer. There were sprawling reefs which gave him good shelter and plenty of food. The houses on the beach near him looked quaint, like retired couples and snowbirds lived there instead of the yelling college kids and vacationing families who seemed to take their residence on the more populated shores. All in all, it was the perfect place for him to settle.  
\---

He had been given one day to find his territory before he needed to start his test. A rogue Mer, a lionfish to be precise, had been killing and eating humans and Mer alike for weeks. He had managed to evade the other peacekeepers by switching his hunting grounds every time and feasting outside of his territory. It had created a mess of territory battles that Danny had had to tiptoe through in order to investigate but three days and several close calls with pissed off Mer later, he had finally narrowed down an area: the Southeast Loch.

The Loch was a death trap waiting to spring on him. The water was clear, there were ships everywhere, tourists and naval officers lined the shores, and there was no place to hide in the cleared out shallow waters. The thought of going there made his pulse race, all anyone had to do was to take a good look and he'd be spotted. The fact that his target had picked this area spoke volumes about his mental state. His only saving grace was the fact that the sun was beginning to set, making it harder to view underneath the water from above.

He moved into the Loch slowly, tail skimming the sandy bottom of the harbor and eyes searching diligently for the lionfish. He could feel the Queen’s two bodyguards watching him from a safe distance, Chin and Kono if his memory served him correctly. Despite their near constant presence when he was investigating, they weren’t there for his help or protection. They were only there to transport the captured Mer back to the Queen should he succeed. Should he die then, and only then, would they take up the fight themselves.

He pushed on, suddenly feeling inadequate with just his knife strapped to his left arm. His ulna fins would be good in a pinch, but they weren’t his first choice of weapon.

Danny pushed forward slowly, wary of who could be lurking in the muddled water. He had just made it to the docks when something barrelled into him from the side and Danny went careening through the water. He righted himself as quickly as he could and drew his knife, peering into the shadows of the docked ships. If the bastard wanted a fight Danny would be happy to give him one.

He felt the next movement rather than seeing it and managed to dodge his attacker just before he was taken down from behind. For the first time in three days, Danny saw the face of the Mer he had been tracking. He had big eyes and a wide mouth giving him an almost toad-like face. His fangs were bared prominently and Danny instinctively flashed his own fangs but stood his ground.

The lionfish had rows of spines starting at his shoulders and trailing down his back until they disappeared where his tail began. He had more, smaller, spines on his forearms and Danny made a note to avoid their poisoned tips. Before Danny could begin to form a strategy the Mer charged again tackling Danny and dragging him down to the bottom of the harbor. He tried to move his knife hand, but the Mer had it pinned to his body in a ferocious grip rendering it useless. He slammed into the sand and the Mer relinquished his grip in favor of wrapping his hands around Danny’s throat.

With his gills blocked Danny only had a few second to act. Now that his arms were free he threw one up, driving his knife into the lionfish’s side. He was met with a satisfying howl and his attacker relinquished his hold around his throat. He pulled his knife back and blood started to pour from the wound, making lazy wisps of red in the water. While he had the advantage Danny shoved the lionfish off of him, pushing him away with his tail, and got upright again just as the lionfish attacked with a new vigor.

Danny dodged out of the way just as fangs were about to sink into his shoulder and took another swipe with his knife, missing his mark as the Mer’s tail smacked into his side. Just as the lionfish was turning around for another charge Danny launched himself at his back. His knife nestled deep into the lionfish’s back just as one of his spikes pierced Danny’s side. The pain was instant, but he pushed it aside and focused on his attack. Pulling the knife out just as quickly as he had shoved it into his attackers back Danny reached around and cut the lionfish’s throat before he could make another attempt at an attack.

The body in his arms went limp and clouds of blood floated around Danny’s face. He pushed away from the other Mer, slowly so that the spike in his side didn’t do any more damage, and focused his healing powers on the area. His vision started to blur as he saw Chin and Kono approach to take the rogue away and he happily let them, he had his own matters to attend to. With his healing ability, the hit was unlikely to kill him, but that didn’t mean there would be no effects. As soon the two had pulled the body away Danny quickly made his way to his lair, it was nearly halfway across the, but maybe he could make it in time.

The further he swam, the foggier his mind got and more than once Danny caught himself starting to aimlessly drift. He could practically see his lair when the toxin overwhelmed his healing and he slipped into the darkness.  
\---

Steve had been swimming far longer than he should have and the sun was just peeking above the horizon by the time he decided to turn back to shore. He had barely made a dozen strokes when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath and dove back underneath the surface, trying to find whatever had caught his attention. It only took a few second for him to focus in on the obvious body floating just a few hundred feet from him.

He took off as fast as he could, praying that the person was still alive to be saved. His hand brushed against the body just as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and he dragged the body up, getting the head above the water. Steve focused his sights on the shore, closer now from the tide gently pushing the two closer, and took off as fast as he could. The body was dead weight, but he still made good time and was quickly skimming the shore in front of his house. Steve dragged the body half out of the water and nearly dropped it again when instead of two legs, a single tail emerged from the water. He set the body down in the sand next to him and shook himself, willing the tail to turn into the two legs that should be there. A cough got his attention and drew his gaze up the body to rest on a distinctly human face.

His brain worked overtime trying to reconcile the two discrepancies when the man slowly opened his eyes. Steve startled again when he recognized those eyes, the same ones that had been haunting his memories for the last eight years. The man seemed groggy, but as soon as his gaze settled onto Steve he was alert and on guard. Steve was on his back before he knew what was happening and staring up into rows of sharp fangs. He grabbed his attackers arms but immediately recoiled when his hands clasped down onto sharp fins. Hands moved to his throat and started to squeeze before something flashed across the face above him. Where the man's expression had just been cold and detached, now it was unmasked and Steve could clearly see recognition overpowered by pure terror.

Just as soon as the man attacked, he was gone again. Moving back into the ocean and disappearing with barely a ripple in the water.

All Steve could do was sit there, the cold ocean water gently lapping around his legs as he stared out into the water. There was no mistaking what he had seen but still he found himself trying to rationalize everything that had just happened. He tried to convince himself it was all a trick of his mind even as a deeper part of his consciousness informed him that he had finally found Danny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In some folklore, it is said that mermaids can take off a ‘cap’ and live on land. They are called the Merrow, an Irish-English term, and were typically reported around Ireland and Scotland. Since England is so close I made Rachel a Merrow, hence why she can ‘shed her tail’. Grace inherited her traits instead of Danny’s.  
> The Mer are a matriarchal species.
> 
> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://www.erandri.tumblr.com)


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